Cursed
by monogatari ai
Summary: They say that when the Cursed are near, disaster strikes. The Cursed have lost their families, their loved ones, their homes. Will they lose their lives too?
1. Chapter 1

Yep; I know. ANOTHER story. Sorry; can't help it. I just have to start these and it's summer, and everyone's on vacation which I don't get to go on until next month so I'm SO bored!

Yep…a few things. I think you'll be able to tell by the city names exactly which country they're in. Hopefully…(rolls eyes)

And I'm pretty sure EVERYONE can pretty much guess after the first few paragraphs who's POV it's in. and yes, I think that's it. And no, Nuriko will not be gay or a cross dresser. As many of the people I talk to say: "he only cross dressed 'cause of his sister, who died. And yes, of course, in the series, he said he'd stop cross dressing but then…he died, so you don't know that he's still gay"

They make a good point, now that I think about it. So…there's my reasoning…

* * *

It was starting.

I could just feel it; the anticipation, the excitement, the anxiety as I waited. I heard something rattling and then…

"AHHH!"I bit back the scream as the roller coaster went coasting down the steep slope. I loved the amusement park since back in my town, there is rarely _any_thing interesting happening. It's not exactly a _small _town, but there's just not many people living there. Considering the fact that all the woodsy areas around us are part of the town, I'd say that we're pretty big towns. There's a mountain not too far away too. But it's still…dull. Not that I hate it or anything, of course. My town is nice; everyone knows each other and are friendly…well, mostly. But of course, most people who didn't like each other tended to know how to avoid one another. But, on the other hand, having something like an amusement park around was definitely fun. Sometimes I wished I lived in _this_ town. The most fun I could get around home was just simple sports though it was even worse in the winter.

'_Ah well'_ I thought to myself, '_Konan's not such a bad place once you get over the fact that we're not even on the map. Not many people know that there's a town like this located between Wuhan and Shanghai"_

The roller coaster did a loop-de-loop and I let out a laugh as I watched the younger children's faces scrunch up and they let out small and terrified shrieks. I, of course, would never to anything of the sort. Never…

Two loop-de-loops came up and I finally gave in and opened my mouth to scream. When the ride was finally over, I staggered off with my friends in tow and headed to where the rest of them who didn't want to go on, were waiting.

"Hey; have fun?"

"Ooh yeah!" I watched their laughing and giggly reaction. Most of them had had too much cotton candy tonight, but nobody cared. Not tonight. This was the one night of the year that we got to have some _real_, city, fun.

Someone poked me in the shoulder, "Ryuuen; c'mon, hurry up"

I looked and noticed that the group was running off toward the tilt-a-twirl and hurried to catch up. I grinned as I noticed that, as always, Genrou was a good distance ahead of everyone else. The fiery red head seemed to be able to outrun the wind sometimes. Every one of my friends seemed to have a certain unusual quality; for example, Juan seemed to know certain things about health and medicine ever since he was able to walk and talk and was able to tell what was wrong with someone even before the town doctor could figure it out; Dokun was especially smart – in fact, he was a thirteen year old in his last year of high school, not that he couldn't be able to go beyond that, but to go to a good school would mean money, and Dokun's family has to save up little by little, year by year. Saihitei was remarkable with any bladed weapon, no matter if he had never seen it before. He proved that when, at the age of five, he defeated the best fencer they had in town. And he had never seen a fencing sword before. Kishuku was…different. This guy was just as obsessed with money as the reality of the fact that he didn't have any money. He proved himself more than able to hold his own in martial arts. And the last one of my friends, Houjun, is very…unique. He's the oldest out of all of us; he actually should be going to University, but he decided that a year off, working would do him a lot of good, so that's why he's still in town now.

And me? Well, I'm strong, I suppose. I once lifted Juan, and Genrou at the same time when they tripped and fell on me. Well…actually, Genrou was pushed by Kishuku and he fell on Juan, who fell on me. It wasn't pleasant, believe me.

"Hurry yer ass up, Ryuuen!" Genrou shouted, "You sure take a fucking long time"

Ah, yes. Genrou's famous dirty mouth.

"I'm coming!" I shouted. I ran the quickest I could to the line and squeezed past the people already there to stand with my friends. They shot me dirty looks but I ignored it; so what if I wanted to stand with my friends? It wasn't illegal, was it?

Nope. I grinned as we continued out night, like children who were given permission to wander the candy shop twenty-four/seven. What a wonderful feeling.

Mmm…candy.

I think my new life goalwill beto open my own personal candy shop. With sugar…and candy canes…and chocolate. And sugar.

* * *

I have to say…

Fall is probably the most boring time of the year. The only good thing is Halloween and that's not until the end of October, and the adults might not even take us to the next town to trick-or-treat this year.

"This fucking sucks"

I'll give you three guesses who that was and the first two don't count.

"We know…" Dokun said in a dull voice. Of course, being younger than the rest of us, the kid was probably more eager to go trick-or-treating than us. Then again, I was excited about this too. Sugar is good for the soul, haven't you heard?

"Don't we know _anyone_ who could drive us?" Saihitei asked aloud to the ones who would actually be going on this little Halloween excursion of ours. Houjun was going to Hangzhou to visit his fiancée and a friend that lives over there. Juan has somebody to see over there too, so the two of them are going together. That leaves me, Saihitei, Genrou, Dokun and Kishuku. Funny…we're all under twenty…

"Maybe Kouji can" Genrou said, "If we can fucking persuade him to come back to town just to fucking drive us to the next town and then fucking drive us back when we're done 'acting like the damn children that we are'" he said, frowning. I laughed; it was true, we _did_ act like children and I doubted that Kouji would do that. He goes to school in Shanghai, a few hours away from here; not likely that he would do that. Despite the fact that he and Genrou and practically like brothers, he would definitely not do this.

"Um…how 'bout…your dad, Kishuku?"

"First…to be able to drive, he'd need a car" Kishuku said, eyes flashing at the fact, "And second, if he drives, my siblings will have to come and we are not taking care of four sugar filled children. Not on Halloween"

"I know" I spoke up, "Rokou"

"Good idea" Saihitei nodded.

"Let's go bully…I mean…persuade him!" I shouted, running off to corner my brother.

* * *

Halloween night was always fun. This night was much more fun than the others have been; one, because Dokun was finally able to somewhat keep up with us and we didn't have to go slower than usual, and the fact that we had _real_ costumes this time. Well…actually, we found all these clothes in Saihitei's attic; enough set of clothes for seven people and they actually fit us too. Saihitei's mother mentioned that they had a lot of old clothes from probably centuries back that nobody wanted anymore. Oh well; their loss. These clothes looked like they came off the set of some movie set in ancient China. But…just older…and…authentic…

We had gotten a ride from Rokou, who agreed after all five of us declared that we wouldn't leave him alone for the rest of the year – especially on April 1st – unless he agreed. So he finally did. It's actually kinda sad how easy we can get him to agree, considering how much older he is than most of us. I rolled my eyes. He had gone off to Shanghai for a while and said he would be back around midnight. Fine with us; that left us about five hours to get candy.

Precious candy…

"I'm exhausted!" Dokun announced. I blinked; while we had been walking, I hadn't noticed how far and how much we had walked. No wonder the little guy was tired. I nodded and sat down near him on the curb, in front of the store that had a bunch of TVs on for people passing by to watch. Well, only one was on right now, and it was on the news. Boring.

"How much did'ya get?" Genrou asked, looking at his duffel bag full of candy.

"The bag's almost full" I announced, "How 'bout you guys?"

"Same" Saihitei and Kishuku chorused. Dokun shook his head, indicating that it wasn't the case with him.

"So how much did ya get?" I asked, making a note that next time, we would not rush ahead.

"My bag is close to being full too, but the owner of the previous house gave me the remaining candy she had left in another bag because she didn't wish to open anymore doors to teenagers like us"

Genrou groaned, "Trust _you_ to get all the luck, kid"

Dokun shrugged, "You just don't have the same qualities as I"

"What qualities would that be?"

Oh. I knew this one!

"'Cause Dokun is cute looking while, Genrou…you're the type that old ladies run in fear from"

"HEY!" Genrou growled. This started an argument. Surprisingly, it wasn't between me and the redhead, but between Kishuku and Genrou. I blinked. Strange…

I turned to Saihitei after a while of watching them argue, "Do you know what time it is?" His family is more well off than the rest of us; his dad's owns a really huge and successful company so I could pretty much count on Saihitei having a watch on him.

"2:14" he had a strange look on his face and I knew why. My brother – my time obsessive, always-has-to-be-on-time, being-late-is-a-sin-in-his-book, somehow-always-gets-everywhere-exactly-on-time-even-without-a-watch brother – was over two hours late.

"Not like Rokou at all" I commented aloud. I turned to Dokun, "You think Rokou got a personality transplant or something?" I asked him. His attention, however, was fixated on the only TV that was turned on.

"Currently, the powerful opposing organization has finally showed what it's true objectives are. The few spies that the countries have sent out have reported back that they want the rare people in the world that have abilities different than those of an average human. They call them the 'cursed'. All cities in the area where attacks have been held have been blocked off…keep your doors and windows locked. If a city is free of the Cursed, then it will not be attacked"

"Cities have been blocked off" Dokun repeated, "Rokou must not be able to get out of Shanghai"

"So what do we do? We can't just sit here all night…"

"Why don't we try walking back?" Kishuku suggested. Apparently, he and Genrou had stopped fighting.

"Didn't it _just_ say cities were blocked off?" Genrou snapped.

"I guess we'll just have to find a place to stay for tonight" I said, "Any idea where?"

"What are you kids doing out here?" a voice growled. I turned and saw a police officer, "You're Cursed, aren't you?"

"N-no" Dokun stammered for some reason. I had a feeling he was thinking the same thing as me…

"Then what are you doing out here?"

"We're just waiting for our ride to come and stuff…" I answered.

He was glaring at me suspiciously, and that was when I realized exactly how murderous he looked at the moment.

"Well, you'll have to come down to the station with me"

"Why?"

"Because I don't believe you. You'll be handed to the TK tomorrow, on order of the government. Anyone found who's Cursed are handed to the organization"

Wait. Not even a trial or anything. What the hell was wrong with the justice system these days, I wondered. No way am I gonna get handed to _them_. I know what they do to get information out of you; I've read the news. Even if you don't have information, they torture you and stuff. No way am I going there!

"No" I said boldly.

"What'd you say, kid?"

"I said no; and you can't make me. You have no proof of anything so just leave us alone. We're gonna stay here, waiting for our ride."

"Watch what you say, kid!" he said, looking more and more threatening, "I won't have my city attacked, ya hear me? Now just follow me down to the station and –" He was cut off when I just, out of the blue, body slammed him. I heard a lot of bone cracks but I didn't care. He lay on the pavement, stunned for the moment and then he shouted what may as well have been our death sentence.

"I FOUND SOME CURSED!"

The others and I exchanged a look and we bolted. Genrou was ahead, but I saw, thankfully, that he had grabbed Dokun so we could get away faster. Meanwhile, as I was berating myself for not knocking him out instead of breaking his ribs.

Damnit, Ryuuen; you idiot. _Think_ next time. This whole damn town is gonna be looking for us by now.

* * *

Kishuku and Saihitei were on lookout. We had found an old abandoned and rundown apartment and were staying here for now. There were a lot of ways out of this place so it was the perfect place to be. Besides, with all the broken down furniture in here, we could hide if those guys came.

"Damn, Ryuuen" Genrou said, "So you're a Cursed, huh? Shoulda known with your damn strength"

"He's not the only one" a voice said from the shadows.

"Who's there?" I shouted. As footsteps came from the shadows, we tensed, apprehensive and defensive looks on our faces.

"Oh. Don't look so terrified, you three" I relaxed. It was an old woman – a very ugly old woman – with her hair done up, and to be honest, she seemed to be walking on air, instead of the rickety old ground because as she came nearer, we heard no more footsteps or creaks. While I relaxed, Genrou gave a scream of fright at the woman's face. I tried not to laugh as Saihitei and Kishuku came in. Both had similar reactions. Kishuku screamed and hid behind Chiriko while Saihitei turned away, refusing to look at her.

The woman sighed, "You never change"

"What'd you mean?"

"Oh. Nothing" she answered, smiling a bit, "Well, what a mess you've gotten yourselves into, huh?"

I looked down at my feet, "yeah...my fault"

"Oh, don't worry yourself about that; you're all Cursed ones anyways"

"WHAT?" Genrou shouted.

"An experienced Cursed one can always tell. Of course, back in my time, it was considered a gift, but no more" she sighed. Then she looked at us again, "Did you know, there's a school just for the Cursed? It's hidden and it'll be very hard to find you. You can come, y'know; I can get you registered. You'll be accepted immediately"

I looked at the others, "But…our parents…and family"

"They're gone" she said crisply, "I doubt any of them survived the attack"

"What attack?"

"The TK attacked all the places they thought were overrun with Cursed ones. Konan was one of them."

Dokun gave a gasp. I could tell he was thinking about his mother. So…they were dead…and so was my sister…and…

"Wait; what if they survived?"

"Even if they're alive, you'll do no good to them. You know very well that they're after you"

Saihitei seemed to be deep in thought, "I suppose…then…I shall come with you"

"Saihitei?" I whirled around, "You believe her?"

"What's not to believe?" Saihitei asked, "She makes sense. Being Cursed…all our abilities; mine with the sword, Dokun's intelligence, Genrou's speed…it makes sense, does it not?"

I grudgingly admitted that but…was I supposed to just give up hope on my family being alive and just…go with this woman. I didn't even know her name.

"And my name is Taiitsu-kun" she said, as if she were reading my mind.

I glanced around. Everyone seemed ready to go, looking…I dunno; I can't place that look, but they looked like they were just ready to go. Well, except for Genrou, but he was kept quiet by Kishuku placing a hand over his mouth. I didn't want to go back to being chased, so…

I nodded.

* * *

The young man ran out as soon as he reached his hometown. He had heard on the news…

It was gone. Everything. Nobody was there. All he could see was…rubble. Wait, there was a person, across town. He rushed there and stared. There was a girl, just sitting on the ruins. His friend from childhood…he hadn't seen her in so long and now, here he was, seeing her in the worst situation he could ever have imagined.

"…what happened?" he asked.

She was silent.

A man stepped out from behind her and answered, "It was a massacre. A massacre meant for us but suffered by our loved ones…"

* * *

Heh heh?


	2. Chapter 2

I have chapter 2! And for people who read this and like it, read FallenStar89's The Gifted. Yes, that was just an ad of sorts, and yes, it _will_ become a subliminal message one day if you don't go read it. (Grins maniacally) Okay, okay; I won't threaten you, but how 'bout this? If you read it, I'll have a party with sugar…or coffee…with…sugar…or coffee…and…stuff…and it'll all be delivered by Ryuuen's Candy Shop! (Silver 'accidentally' eats all the sugar) WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! (Bounces off the walls)

Reader's response:

**Mint Drop:** It's won't ALL be in Nuriko's POV…like this chapter. It'll switch back and forth between different characters and all that.

**Xo Kurai oX:** Yeah, I realized I did that about five seconds after I posted it. (Silver hits herself on the head) yeah…I'm dumb…

**Chichiri's Wanderer:** Glad you liked it.

**FallenStar89:** Good that's it's different and don't you feel special, being the first reviewer? How'd you like my advertisement for your fic up there?

* * *

I don't know why I agreed to follow Taiitsu-kun so quickly. Ryuuen definitely looked like he didn't want to go, and I don't blame him. After all, we just found out that everyone that we cherished and loved were possibly dead, and we couldn't go see them. I could see that he was just itching to just run off and run back to Konan. But seeing as everyone else seemed to agree after I agreed, he nodded. 

So, here we were, following Taiitsu-kun out of the town. Underground. As in the sewers. Gross. Argh, now my beautiful dark hair will be ruined. But then again, so would Ryuuen's; his hair is almost as long as mine. Behind me, Genrou was sniggering, "A bit worried about your hair, Saihitei?" he asked.

"Will you shut up?" I snapped. I suppose people would say I'm narcissist, but really, I'm only this way because I'm so beautiful. Taiitsu-kun gave a laughing snort all of a sudden. I think she can read my thoughts. But what was so funny about them; it's only the truth, after all. Another laugh. Grr…

* * *

It was a long time before Taiitsu-kun stopped next to a ladder and we followed. I was more than grateful to get out of the sewer and so was everyone else, I could see. Dokun was looking around apprehensively and I knew why. We were all worried that more police would be around and we'd be given to the TK. 

After walking for another fifteen minutes, where we found ourselves in a forest the lead uphill, Taiitsu-kun chuckled at our still paranoid expressions, "No need to worry anymore"

"May I ask why?" Dokun asked politely.

"This area is private property; the police cannot venture here. Besides, they dare not"

Once again, I could tell our confusion seemed to amuse this old woman, who seemed to know all the answers, while we did not.

"This land is owned by government officials who are related to me and gave me access to this house as a favor. No one will dare to cross them by trespassing on his property…unless, of course, they wish to regret doing so for the rest of their lives…" Taiitsu-kun said, "Well, now…shall we head inside?"

That was when I noticed that we were only a few feet away from a large mansion, no, _palace_. Well, it seemed that grand to me; it was probably just a mansion, but it seemed more befitting to call it a palace.

"This is the school"

"_This_ is the school?" Ryuuen asked incredulously. He and I exchanged doubtful looks.

"Don't look so surprised" Taiitsu-kun said, "If it _looks_ like a school, people will come around and inspect"

I guess that was true…

We said no more as we headed inside the school. Taiitsu-kun walked up to the door and a blue light scanned her over and a computerized voice said, "Taiitsu-kun; acknowledged" the door opened and Genrou stepped forward, ready to go inside but two lasers beams shot out from the pillars he was between. He stepped back again, shocked.

"Oh yes; please register Kou Genrou, Chou Ryuuen, Seishuku Saihitei, Sou Kishuku and Ou Dokun as students"

"Registering…Kou Genrou, step up to the door" Genrou did so, looking apprehensively at the pillars but when they didn't fire anymore laser beams, he quickened to the door and this time a green light scanned him over, "Security data collected; proceed, Kou Genrou. Chou Ryuuen; step up to the door" As Genrou headed inside, Ryuuen did exactly as he did. After Ryuuen was me and it was quickly over and I hurried into the school, wondering what it would look like.

Like I expected, it didn't look like a school from the inside. It looked like a normal, everyday house…except that it was incredibly neat and that…well, it was huge. Genrou started swearing a lot for some reason. I turned and watched with amusement as Dokun's usual knowing expression became one of awe and Ryuuen grinned widely; I bet he was thinking about how much trouble he could cause in a space like this. I remember once, at our school, he had somehow, made some sort of paint _bomb_ and it had exploded while everyone was at their lockers, just as the bell for third period rang. Everyone went home early that day, covered in paint. I knew Ryuuen had done it, but with the way Ryuuen could play the innocent act, well, he was never caught.

Taiitsu-kun coughed and looked at us, "Now if you're all done gaping like the idiots you are…I'll explain stuff…once we get into my office"

Her office was up a two flights of stairs, and down two really long halls with doors marked with names. The grand door at the end of the two halls was her office. We went in and waited for her to 'explain stuff'. When we got there, we all sat down before we were asked, earning a glare from Taiitsu-kun.

"Alright. This school, as I explained, is in this mansion. There _are_ classes and such like a normal school, plus a few other classes for you to understand and develop the powers you have. You are to stay on the third floor and the floors above. The second floor and first floor are off limits in case government officials come knocking. The rules are that of a normal school, I suppose"

"Damn it; there are _rules_?" Genrou groaned.

"Yes" Taiitsu-kun said, "Now…" she pressed a button on the intercom by her desk and a door to her right opened a few moments later, revealing a short girl with blue-green hair and smiling like a child who had been told that they had won had a lifetime's supply of candy.

"Hai?" she asked.

"Nyan-nyan; please take these five to their rooms"

"HAI!"

* * *

So we followed the really child-like girl up another three flights of stairs and down a few halls until she stopped. She glanced at a piece of paper, "Here we are!" 

Sure enough, on the door of the rooms, there were these labels with our names on it. But…electronic. It's hard to explain; I guess the technology of a government official's home is much more advanced than one of a small time. It was like a television display, except the names stayed put in glowing red letters.

"Find your names and get settled in! I'm sure the computer system will have gotten everything ready for you already!" and with that, the little girl – Nyan Nyan – ran off giggling like crazy. Dokun found his room quickly; we were standing right in front of it after all. Genrou's was three doors down from him. Ryuuen's room was next to Genrou's and right across from mine. Kishuku's room about five doors down from mine. I entered the room and looked around. It was a huge room. Then again, everything in this school was huge. There was even a bathroom, a walk in closet and a desk in my room. When I walked into the closet, there were all these clothes there…I guess this was what Nyan-Nyan meant when she said the computer system got everything ready for us.

Ugh. I looked in the mirror and noticed how filthy – and smelly from the sewers – I was. So I took a shower.

When I was out and dressed, my long dark hair dripping, a knock came at my door. I opened it and saw that Ryuuen was there, also with dripping wet hair. Genrou was beside him – also with wet hair – and looked really mad, "What's wrong with you?" I asked.

"Oh…that" Ryuuen looked like he was trying not to laugh, with no success, "Well, he stunk when I went to see his room, so I turned the shower on and pushed him in…" he said innocently.

"IT'S NOT FUNNY!" Genrou yelled, seething. I bit my lip to stop myself from laughing, "Let's go see Dokun" I suggested, breaking up the argument.

Just as we almost reached his door, I paused for a moment. And stared. Ryuuen poked me in the shoulder, "What's up with you?"

I didn't say a word. Just pointed at the room I was staring at. On the door, it clearly read: Ri Houjun.

Genrou was staring at another door across from it, "Myo…Juan…" he trailed off, "You mean they're here? I thought they'd be stuck in wherever they went off to!"

He began pounding on Juan's door, "Juan; hey Juan; open up"

The door opened and there stood tall, quiet Juan with his cat on his shoulders. He looked very surprised to see us and I wondered if I had the same expression on my face. Behind him, Houjun came up, "You're here too?"

"Houjun; your eye –" Ryuuen started. There was a bandage covering his left eye.

"It's nothing"

"But…"

Houjun practically hissed the next words, "Don't worry about it; it's nothing"

So, we didn't bother to question him any further. We got Dokun and eventually, we sat around talking for a while before Taiitsu-kun came around again, told us classes would start tomorrow and our schedules were on our desks and told us to go into our rooms because a bunch of government officials were there and to make as little noise as possible. I guess that's how we'll be living the rest of our lives as long as we remained Cursed. Hiding, running and living in fear.

* * *

(is resisting against Logic) NOoooooo; i won't do it...nooooo! 

Logic: You know you have to. Bring Miaka in, that is. It makes sense if you do and won't make sense if you don't.

Silver: NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I WILL NOT...

Logic: You're being totally unreasonable about this.

Silver: Shutthe fuck up. I refuse to write Miaka in. (crosses arms)

Logic: Well, then...you won't be happy to know that she's here.

Silver: (glares) you bastard! (grabs the nearest sharp object to kill Miaka with)


	3. Chapter 3

Yes. I am finally updating this. Shaddup; I was just too lazy. Also, this chapter is from Genrou's (Tasuki's) POV and though I know he swears regularly, I didn't add too much in. I don't know if the administration people would approve of having swear words every five words, so I've limited it…somewhat. And also, due to the no answer reviews policy that I recently heard about and since I don't want to risk it and get my account deleted, I won't be answering reviews…unless someone tells me for sure that that rule has been taken off.

Enjoy the chapter!

* * *

When I woke up the next morning, I jumped out of bed, cursing. This sure as hell wasn't my room! Then I remembered what had happened the day before and sighed. This would take some getting used to, it seemed. Just as I was about to get back into bed and sleep, a voice came from this intercom thing next to my bed, "Don't even think about going back to bed, Mr. Kou; you and your friends are attending classes this morning"

I rolled my eyes and swore at the intercom before dressing, "I never fucking asked to come you old hag"

A knock sounded at my door and I could hear Ryuuen and Saihitei making a bet on how much I would swear when I opened the door for them. I scowled as best I could. I'll show them.

Do not swear. Do not swear. Do not swear.

I opened the door and Ryuuen grinned brightly – so fucking brightly – at me. How is it that he can look so damn happy in the morning?

"Good morning, Genrou!" he grinned.

"Go away" I grumbled.

"Nope; you heard what Taiitsu-kun said. Classes today"

"Like I care"

"You will if you hear the punishment for not going today"

"Which is?"

"You spend five hours staring at her face" Saihitei shuddered, "Well, that's _my_ punishment anyways. Apparently, she makes separate punishments befitting all of us"

I couldn't help but snicker at his. So like Saihitei to feel that that was a punishment, but considering how ugly Taiitsu-kun was, I can't help but agree.

"So what would yours be?" I asked Ryuuen.

"Probably tie me to a chair so I sit still" Ryuuen said, "I know what yours will be; no alcohol whatsoever!"

"Will you stop talking so we can get to class?" Kishuku asked in annoyance when he walked by.

"Shut up"

Damn, that idiot annoys me to no end. Yeah, yeah, I know we're supposed to be this tight group of great friends that have known each other all our lives, but Kishuku annoys me. A lot. I don't even know why he annoys me.

"Yeah, let's go" Saihitei agreed, "Taiitsu-kun's gonna talk to us in the 'auditorium'"

* * *

I don't get it. It's like an entire building has been built in this one. It doesn't make any sense! I groaned as I tried to figure out how this worked but only gave myself a fucking headache. There was actually a real auditorium! With seats and everything. How do they fit that in here?

Whatever. I'll ask Dokun later.

We were instructed by Taiitsu-kun to sit according to what floor our rooms were on. We were on the fifth floor, so we ended up close to the front which was fine. Looking behind us, I saw that there were at least about seven more groups, and groaned. Imagine having to be on the last floor and climb up all those stairs.

Along with my friends and I, there were a lot of other people, but most of them didn't talk to us that much. Stupid fucking snobby people. One, however, _did_ talk and I felt like strangling her until she stopped talking or died from lack of air. She kept talking about food too; and asking if we had food with her.

Yes, our town gets destroyed and we find out we're Cursed and of course, naturally, we put as much food as we can get into our fucking pockets so that we can save it for _her_. What a fuckingidiot.

She's so annoying.

One of the groups far behind us was wincing every fucking time she opened her mouth, which goes to show how loud she was too. One of the girls finally looked like she would lose it any second and concentrated for a few seconds. Then the annoying girl – known as Piggy for now – suddenly clutched at her throat. Her voice was gone. I couldn't help but grin like a maniac. The only one who looked upset was Kishuku. Was he fucking _insane_?

Before I could say anything though, Taiitsu-kun began to speak, "As you all know, you have been brought here due to the threat of the lives of the 'cursed'. The floor which you live on is classified by the color in which your names are printed on your door. The people who you share the floor with will be like your 'homeroom' and you will have almost all your classes with them. There are twelve homerooms in all. I'll list the colors of each floor in case you were the ones that were injured while being brought in. Third floor is Gold. Fourth floor is Green. Fifth floor is Red. Sixth floor is Blue. Seventh floor is White. Eighth floor is Yellow. Ninth floor is Black. Tenth floor is Brown. Eleventh floor is Gray and Twelfth floor is aqua blue"

Each time she said a different floor and color, a light of that color would shine on the people that belonged to that floor so we would know. I noticed that the one who had gotten the annoying girl to shut up was on the ninth floor. Should keep that in mind; I'll need to thank them one day.

Dokun's glaring at me. Must mean that I should be paying attention. Damn geniuses and their long attention spans.

"Also, you may have classes with different floors, so keep that in mind. Your homeroom teacher will be passing around schedules now"

To be honest, when the teachers appeared out of thin air, I was just about ready to scream. Not normal. Not normal. Not normal at all. As if I needed teachers that could do that; I'd get into even more trouble than I already do because this time, they can catch me!

Our teacher was a tall man with long dark hair and steely gray eyes. He looked more regal than a simple teacher, if you asked me, but then again, if he was teaching here, he must be one of the Cursed, which means he wasn't necessarily a teacher as an occupation. Damn, my mind is spinning again. Thinking is definitely not good for you.

"Welcome" he said in a voice that was quiet, but demanded everyone's attention. Hell, even that annoying girl shut up for once, "I understand that this is probably a drastic change, but it is necessary if you want to live. My name is Hakurou and I teach one of the 'special' classes, also known as fighting"

Fighting? They teach fighting here? Why didn't the old hag say so before? I could get used to these courses; maybe I can pretend to accidentally hurt Kishuku so I don't get into trouble.

He began to hand out our schedules, "I'll take you to where the classrooms are located; it's in an entirely different wing than where your rooms are" he explained. Shit; this is where I get confused. Seeing my confused expression, Hakurou chuckled, "Don't be confused. Taiitsu-kun designed these floors so that it is like a boarding school. One area has the classes. One has the dorms. She used her powers to do this so that the mansion doesn't look any bigger than it already is, even if it is"

"O…kay…"

Ryuuen laughed at my expression, "Confused already, Genrou?"

"Shaddup" I growled.

"You owe me twenty dollars" Saihitei said smoothly, "He last for more than ten minutes"

"Damn it" Ryuuen grumbled, handing over the money, "Why didn't you swear like you usually do when we wake you up?"

I smirked, "That's for me to know and you to wonder about"

"So we have all our classes together! I'm Miaka!" Piggy piped up. She must've been given her voice back. I groaned and sent a look at Saihitei and Ryuuen, who were sending similar looks back. Oh fuck. How were we supposed to put up with them!

I decided to look at my schedule now and saw that there were quite a few normal classes here. We had History first, with the Black group, then Math with the Blue group, Gym with the Green group, Science with the White Group and then English again with the Black group. The last classes were: Fighting, Powers, and Other. I wonder what Other was. We had the last three classes with the Black, Blue, Green and white group it seemed.

"Won't the last three classes be a bit full?" I asked aloud.

Hakurou grinned, "Well, it would, but only those in those groups that are around your age are going to be in that class. Other older or younger will be in another class"

He stopped in front of a couple of doors on his left, "This is where you'll go to eat. Call it the Dining Hall, or Cafeteria, if you will"

I could just _hear_ Miaka's fucking drool hitting the damn floor. I shuddered. Why me? Whyyyy?

We continued on our way again until we reached a set of double doors, "This…is where your classes will take place. You'll notice that the rooms are numbered just like a normal school. Well, you'll be able to find your way around easy enough then, won't you?"

With that, he left, leaving us to find the classes ourselves. He called behind his shoulder, "Oh. And don't try to skip class unless you have a good excuse. Taiitsu-kun always seems to know and her punishments are harsh" he advised.

"Let's go then!" Dokun was bouncing up and down excitedly. I rolled my eyes, "Sure, whatever kid; what do we have first?"

"History"

"Great; just fucking great"

History was in room 304. Well then…let the fucking boredom and torture begin.

* * *

Oh yes…

I almost forgot. I am willing to accept original characters for this story, as long as they are REASONABLE. Meaning, they aren't completely invincible with their powers aka, as long as they don't seem utterly perfect and have everything and stuff. If you submit a character and it seems that way, I'll edit some things and stuff.

Keep in mind; I am looking for a character to be the one who stole Miaka's voice in this chapter. Yeah…

And any characters you give me will belong to the Black group, just to clear that up.

Oh yes…a Happy Birthday to FallenStar89! I'd put a smiley face here if the stupid editor thing on actually LET me.


	4. Chapter 4

Well, I finally got this written up…

**Note 1:** I mentioned the Red group's schedule last chapter. I changed the schedule 'cause it wasn't working, so therefore…don't pay attention to that schedule.

**Note 2:** There probably won't be too many fights between the Suzaku and Seiryuu (Red and Blue) just yet since in the series, they only fought because they were competing for the god summoning thingie, and well, in the series, Miaka was dumb. Which is why everyone will hate her in this story…if you don't like it, get out because I ain't changing it. Oh, there will be fighting between Kishuku (Tamahome) and Nakago, but you know, not between the ones we LIKE, at least not on a regular basis.

**Note 3**: Anyone who still wishes to be in this story send me a profile; it's first come first serve.

Reader's response:

**Metal Chopsticks:** Wow…I haven't heard from you in a while…you haven't updated in a while either…(sniff) I miss your stories.

**Sorrowful smiles:** Oh yes, I hate Miaka. I hate her with a fiery burning passion of a thousand suns.

**FallenStar89:** Yes, I have your character. And update, seriously; I wanna read about that particular tragic death. Actually, it'd be happy for everyone else, not tragic since everyone hates her so much.

**Xo Kurai oX:**…hm…should try that…

**Chichiri's Wanderer:** Yes, yes…Kairi…am I gonna be using the same profile as in the other story? If not, send me an email…with the profile…and stuff…!

_**Disclaimer:...nothing that you recognize in this chapter belongs to me…because then, I would be rich and wouldn't have to take math. Stupid teacher gives us three damn tests….**ENJOY THE CHAPTER! (Please note that while attempting to write this chapter, I had a three math tests, one biology test, one anthropology essay, a history project and a history test all due on the same week, therefore, this chapter is sucky and if not for the fact that I'm too stressed to think of anything else, I would write it again)_

ENJOY THE CHAPTER!

_

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_

The intercom next to my bed woke me up with a loud announcement which was so loud that I bet the person next door heard it...and the walls weren't exactly thin. It was telling me to get up and not to go back to sleep. Unfortunately, it was repeated every few minutes so obviously it got annoying. I was almost tempted to grab the nearest wooden object and bash it in, but of course, I didn't. Not yet, anyways.

I quickly got dressed and went in search for a few people who knew where they were going…somewhat at least, because I don't think _anyone_ knew exactly what they were doing since it was the first thing. This reminded me of a time when I was four or five, around that age, and I was sent to kindergarten. When we were finally allowed out of the classroom as an introduction to the school, I felt so lost because everything and everyone were bigger than me. That's how it felt now, and judging by the looks on the other people's faces, I guess that they feel the same way.

While I followed the other in a mindless droning sort of way, I thought back on how I got here. I remember that it was the morning after Halloween; I had gone out trick or treating with the rest of my friends and was happily dreaming of that wonderful sweet goodness that I had yet to savor, but I was woken up by my mother, who was screeching – and I _do_ mean screeching – at me to go get her some alcohol. Most expecting mothers crave random and strange food when they're pregnant. My mother craves alcohol.

Heh; no wonder I'm so messed up.

"Hey; do you know where we're supposed to sit, Shun?" one of the two people who I knew from home, Kaen, asked, jolting me out of my thoughts. I looked around and found myself staring at an auditorium that had about ten rows…which were colored. I rolled my eyes, "I'm assuming, Kaen, that we sit according to what colors the name on our door were in, which, in case you have suddenly gone color blind or forgot, was blue"

She shot me a glare, "Geez; do you have to be so damn sarcastic?"

"Yes" I snapped. In case anyone hasn't noticed, I'm not a morning person. At all. In fact, on that morning of November 1st, I was even more pissed off than usual since I was looking forward to spending an entire day going through my candy and hopefully, just goofing off. But of course, my mother woke me up and I had to drive all the way into the other town to get her the drink she wanted because our local liquor store was out. Kaen and a few others from our town came with me, which is how they escaped, I suppose. It was just pure luck that we lived and the rest of our tiny town didn't. When we came back with the liquor, everything was gone; turned into rubble and not a single person remained alive. I remember the bottles crashing onto the ground and breaking. The sound echoed through the silence as if it was a sin to make noise. It felt like it. We stayed there for a few days, mourning, and Ayuru came back from whatever school he had went to. Kaen had cried so much. I think I cried too. After all, everyone was dead, including my best friend, my mother, all the family I had left…

Then of course, we were pulled out of our mourning by none other than that old bat, Taiitsu-kun and we were brought here, to _this_ place.

I scowled as Kaen poked me in the ribs, "Listen" she instructed as Taiitsu-kun began to talk.

So I tried to, but there was a girl, one row below us, who _wouldn't fucking shut up._ I saw the rest of the row shooting her glares and telling her to shut her mouth. (That's pretty nice of them; if it was me, I'd probably just shove a sock into her mouth and tape it shut with that really sticky gray tape. That way, she would be quiet and she could possibly die from lack of air.)

But unfortunately…

I didn't have a spare sock on me.

I sighed regretfully and Kaen gave me a look that obviously said, 'for the sake of my sanity, please don't kill anybody today'

I didn't have a chance to argue because obviously Taiitsu-kun was done talking. A man with black hair that was tied up walked over. He had piercing green eyes and a _lot_ of scars, especially on his face. He adopted a small smirk as he reached us and surveyed our group, "I see not many of the Cursed in the blue group made it…" he said in a voice that wasn't loud, but commanded our attention. I was impressed; maybe he could teach me how to do that?

"But alas, you will have to do your lessons" he said, "I am Tessoh, I teach the art of fighting, with Hakurou, who you should know, is the head of the Red group"

He handed out a piece of paper to each of us, which were our schedules. I glanced over mine quickly, registering that we had English with the Green and White group first, and something called 'optional math'. Ayuru questioned this.

"Well, seeing as you're all already teenagers or adults and have taken more than ten years of math, meaning you know the basics, we figured that you wouldn't necessarily need it. Math in this place is generally just for the younger children. But, if you decide to take it, you will be in a class with all of the Red, Blue, Black and Green that have also chosen to take it and will teach more complex math"

"And what if we don't go?"

"Then it's a free period"

I grinned. I definitely wasn't going; math wasn't exactly my strong point, but somehow, I got the feeling that between Kaen and Ayuru, I would end up dragged to that class. At least for the first few days.

Tessoh then led us to the area where the classes were held and we walked through the doors, looking for the English classroom. After a while, we found it and walked in; nobody was too excited about it; after all, how interesting could an _English_ class be. How wrong we were.

In walked a tall woman with long dark hair (did _everyone_ here have dark hair or something?) that reached the ground. She walked like she was floating and the door slammed behind her. She was something else alright, especially when she started talking. Her first words to us were,

"…In leaves no step had trodden black  
Oh, I kept the first for another day!  
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,  
I doubted if I should ever come back.  
I shall be telling this with a sigh  
Somewhere ages and ages hence:  
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-  
I took the one less traveled by,  
And that has made all the difference"

She stopped when she saw our expressions and smiled, still practically skipping as she walked, "Now, who can tell me what that poem is called?"

No one answered, still obviously surprised at her entrance.

"No one?" she asked.

Silence.

"Oh come on; it's not _that _hard!"

Quiet. It was so quiet that you could expect to hear a cricket chirp, but then again, if it did, Ayuru would probably kill it by glaring at it. It was a good thing he was a friend; I would _not _want Ayuru – and his death glares – as my enemy.

"I'll give you candy if you get it right" she began to bribe us. I heard an excited whisper in the back and turned to see a silver haired man poke another in the ribs. The man that was poked sighed and answered as his dark hair fell over his eye, "The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost"

The teacher clapped her hands together in delight, "Wonderful! You get candy, Mr.…?"

"Tsuonie. Kasaru Tsuonie" he said. He was part of the White group. Everybody had been issued identification clasps when we got registered, and on the identification clasps was your name written in the color group you belonged to. Taiitsu-kun, though an old bat, was smart. _(AN: yes, that is indeed Tatara. It's supposedly his real name, so I'm using it)_

"Right, well, here's some candy, Mr. Tsuonie" she said, throwing him what was unmistakably a Reese cup. No fair; _I_ wanted a Reese cup. I miss my Halloween candy...

"Well, I haven't introduced myself, have I?" she asked, "You can call me Miiya, for I will now be calling you by your first names. As will every other teacher…unless of course, you break a lot of rules and they're angry…" she smirked.

And so, she started the lesson by reading another poem by Robert Frost. That was when I began to drift off…

* * *

I am officially never going to Math ever again. Unless I have nothing better to do than to torture the teacher. The teacher was so boring. Imagine being locked into a tiny box that only fits you in it and there's nothing to do; there aren't any utensils to draw or color the box with, there's no noise either. And eventually, you're stuck in there long enough that you start going insane… 

That's how boring it was. I think I went insane after five minutes.

I tried talking to people around me and fortunately, they weren't bastards. That was a good thing because I was going to have quite a few classes with them. In the Red group, most of them are okay except for two, a rude bastard named Kishuku and the annoying girl, whose name was Miaka.

I hate them.

At first sight, I hated them, and I will continue to hate them until one of them does the world a favor and commits suicide…or homicide…either one works.

Do-do-di-di-do-do-di-di-do-do

Oh great; the circus music is playing…again….

I hate Math.

* * *

Yes, I know it sucks. And yes, I realize that I probably have his character all wrong. I AM STRESSED AND YOU WOULD DO WELL NOT TO PISS OFF A STRESSED PERSON! The consequences could be deadly. 


	5. Chapter 5

Hello people; finally got this done. I feel proud.

Well, anyways…

Reader's response:

**Sorrowful smiles:** Glad you liked it…and um…sorry for this being late?

**FallenStar89:** Well, I am finally done and if I didn't tell you before, the last chapter was Suboshi talking. Well, I actually answered pretty much every thing you said in your review in one of our emails so there's not point in me answering them again. And you'd better update YOURS!

**Chichiri's Wanderer:** Yeah, I'll keep her profile the same…except, I don't have her profile. I only remember that she had blonde hair…but I don't remember the eyes and stuff…can you send it again? (by the way, this chapter is in Kairi's POV)

Enjoy the chapter people!

* * *

I was sitting in the cafeteria – excuse me, _Dining Hall_. For once in my entire life, a food fight had not broken out in the _dining hall_ for two weeks; it was a record. Or it would have been, had I been at my high school. I sighed in relief at the fact that I did not need to duck around the table to avoid flying trays of food today. Perhaps, just perhaps, I might have a normal meal without having to change into clean clothes only a few hours after getting into them. 

My group was all sitting at a table in the corner next to a group of guys and a girl. The girl was the annoying one during the assembly. I smirked when I remembered that I had used my newly found powers to take her voice away. That's my power, see; I…well, it's hard to explain it, but I pretty much just blocked her larynx which made it impossible for her to talk, but I can do other stuff, like make people feel certain emotions, like fear or anger, and I can cause their body to be in pain. I had to do that when I was escaping those who wanted to give me straight to the enemy.

I sat next to a girl with black hair that reached past her shoulders, Keera. She grinned at me, "I was starting to think you got lost, Kairi" she commented as she dipped a fry in ketchup and ate it.

"Isn't the dinner today _pasta_?" I asked her incredulously, looking at my own plate. Keera shrugged, "Dining lady must be missing her bag of McDonalds right about now" she commented calmly. That's Keera's power; she uses darkness to move things around. I have no question as to how she got that bag of McDonalds. I'm part of the Black group, which I mention, has only four people including me at the moment. Our teacher, Miiya, assured us that Taiitsu-kun was constantly on the lookout for more Cursed that survived the attacks and escaped the enemy's grasp.

I looked at my other two group members and was instantly amused. Jynx had her head buried in her arms so all we could see was her long black hair and the earphones that were on her head. I don't think anything was playing though; she just does that so no one bothers her. Jynx is a strange one; at times, she can be absolutely cold and mean, and at others, she can be perfectly normal. I guess she could be still adjusting, but I doubt that. Must be her character.

Gabrielle and Jynx knew each other before they came here; apparently, they've been friends practically their whole lives. At the moment, Gabrielle was stating that she thought that the bread was made out of bricks instead of flour. To make her point, she was hitting the bread on the corner of the table. Keera burst out laughing as the bread made a loud thudding noise. I kept in mind never to eat this school's bread. Gabrielle started laughing also, her long red hair falling in front of her face as she did so. My entire group dressed in dark colours; I think I'm the only one that wears colors like…white.

The boys down the table watched us with amusement as they did every time we were in the dining hall (Yes, something of this sort happens _every_ time). Finally, the orange haired one, Genrou commented about crazy women.

Immediately, all four of us were glaring at him. Jynx had looked up just to glare and she held it for a while before putting her head back onto her arms. Ryuuen hit Genrou over the head, "Do you _want_ them mad at us?" he stage whispered.

"Do we _have_ to sit next to them?" Genrou countered.

"Yes" Saihitei answered, "It's much more amusing than watching Kishuku worship Yûki there" he jabbed a finger at the annoying girl, Miaka Yûki, who was stuffing her face. I looked at Gabrielle and noticed she was looking disgusted and awed at the same time that Miaka was eating the brick bread.

"How…can…she…eat…that?" she gasped. She poked Jynx hard, "Jynx! Jynx! Jynx; wake up; it's _It_!" she hissed. Jynx jolted up, "What? Where?"

Gabrielle pointed at the girl who was oblivious to what was going on, "There!"

Jynx turned to Gabrielle looking amused, but did not say anything.

I looked between them, "What exactly is 'it'?"

The guys were listening in now, looking amused at Gabrielle, who was still pointing. The girl and Kishuku were oblivious to this, however.

"You don't know _it_?" Gabrielle gasped.

Jynx's face grew more amused by the second.

"What's it?"

"…it is an bottomless eating monster that eats you if you don't go to sleep at night" Gabrielle looked at Jynx and hit her over the head, "It was you, wasn't it!"

Jynx scowled as she rubbed her head, "Idiot; I told you that story to shut you up at night; we had to share a room and you were talking on and on and on"

Gabrielle crossed her arms and pouted as the rest of us laughed. By the time we stopped, Jynx had gone back to 'sleep' again. I couldn't help laughing now every time I looked at Miaka and she looked at me confused every time.

Soon, dinner was over and we were still talking to the Red group, as we headed for the stairs. Keera was trailing behind Saihitei and Genrou, who were arguing with each other. From what I gathered from her expression, it was probably an interesting argument. I could hear bits of it every now and then, most words like: 'narcissist' and 'pyromaniac'. Oh, and a _lot_ of swear words from Genrou.

Houjun was off to the side, looking down at the ground. I notice that he seems to do that a lot; I think he's trying to hide that scar on his face or something; dunno why though. I mean, it's not like he carved the scar there or anything.

I walked up to him and began talking to him. Sure enough, he looked surprised that I didn't flinch or anything at the scar on his face. Did some people actually do that?

"So Houjun, how do you like it here?" Yeah, yeah, I know; lame conversation, but I gotta start somewhere, don't I?

"It's…interesting" he answered, glancing pointedly at the rest of our groups. I laughed weakly when I saw that Jynx had finally – _finally_ – lost her temper and had started chasing both Gabrielle and Tasuki around, promising violent deaths to both of them.

"Very interesting" I agreed, "Hey, so did you all know each other before you came here or something? You seem really close"

"Yeah, we've known each other since we were children; it was a small town so we knew everyone, but there weren't many others our age to talk to"

"Sounds nice" I commented. It _did_ sound nice; where I lived, I barely knew my _neighbour_ much less most of the city. It seemed to form a more concrete friendship than the ones that I had.

I scowled at the thought of how the Cursed had found me. Loyal friend, my ass.

Houjun looked startled at my scowl, "I'm sorry; did I offend you?"

"No, just thinking about some...other things" I quickly reassured him and he relaxed. By then, we had reached the Red group's floor and we separated, with Tasuki running straight to the door that led to the rooms. I glanced at the rest of us in the stairway; Keera had already went and ran up most of the stairs, with Gabrielle following and Jynx was patiently waiting for me. I gave her a grateful look and we climbed up the stairs, shaking our heads simultaneously at the antics of our other two group members.

* * *

The next week in History, the teacher decided to give us more knowledge about our enemy. To my surprise, a lot of people knew a lot about them: the TK. They had been taking Cursed from their homes for years but none had managed to escape, but eventually one did and killed a low ranked TK member while doing so. That apparently gave the higher ups the advantage; they proclaimed all Cursed dangerous and began hunting us, only we had never heard much of it on the news because the press had never found out about it. Except, on Halloween and after, their faction became so powerful that they knew that if they started attacking areas where they knew some Cursed were, the people would actually help them. 

They weren't wrong.

My own friend had given me up to the Cursed and it had taken me all I could to escape. We had been on this sort of trip with the rest of our friends and we were sharing a hotel room. When the news came on, she got this sort of look in her eyes and I knew she was putting the pieces together; the strange things that happened around me, the many people that seemed to be afraid of me when I got upset, and the information about the Cursed. She had immediately turned on me, attacked me with the nearest blunt object and then called the number they gave on the news should anybody find any Cursed.

And _they_ came. They looked at me like I was scum, like I was nothing more than the dirt on their shoes; I had never gotten such a disparaging look in my life. Then, they made sure I couldn't move or try to run; they broke the bones in my left leg and then my right arm; I remember the pain, and the anger that followed, overriding the fear and then, suddenly, they found themselves on the ground, like they were paralyzed. My traitorous friend was against the wall; she couldn't move either and I glared at her as I tried to run out of the room and find a safe place.

Eventually, I saw two of my friends approaching. I thought I would have to 'paralyze' them too; they surely knew what I was. One of them looked at me warily and the other, she just put her hand over her eyes and told me that she had not seen me and therefore could not tell me that a woman that could help me was waiting at the elevators for me. I remember saying my thanks before limping painfully to the elevators and then, I passed out from the pain.

Well, now I know not to trust blindly anymore. You never know who might be waiting to stab you brutally in the back. I thought about the friends I had made here: Keera, Jynx, Gabrielle, Houjun (I notice that he has somewhat stopped trying to hide his scar), Genrou, Saihitei, Dokun, Ryuuen, Juan and Shun (he was part of the Blue group). I do not trust them blindly of course, but it was hard not to when the only people I have here are them.

The history teacher, Karuza, looked at me, "Can you tell us the answer, Kairi?" he asked spitefully. Not that he particularly hated _me_. More like he hated everyone.

"What was the question?" I asked.

"Now that is why you should pay attention" he snapped.

I nodded, trying not to roll my eyes.

"The question, asked by Dokun there, was 'what does TK stand for'?"

"I don't know"

He shook his head and made an exasperated noise, "You don't even know the true name of the people trying to kill you?"

"Nope"

He turned to Jynx, "Perhaps you can answer" he said in a tone that implied that he didn't think so. Grr…I hate Karuza.

To my surprise, though, Jynx actually knew the answer. She looked at him straight in the eyes while gripping this strange necklace that for some reason, she wore around her wrist, and answered, "TK stands for The Keres; The Keres were known in ancient Greek myths as the god of the underworld, Hades', hit men"

"Yes, and how would you recognize one of the higher ranked TKs then, hm…Gabrielle?" Karuza asked.

"The Keres of ancient times wore red robes, so higher ranked TK soldiers wear a red uniform"

"And if the higher ranked wear red then what do new recruits or lower ranked wear…Keera?"

"New recruits wear gray" Keera was gripping her arm so hard her knuckles were going white. I guess I'm not the only one that has met them face to face. It was the new recruits I had met and I guess Keera met them too, which makes me wonder; did Gabrielle and Jynx, and maybe some of the others in the classroom meet with a higher ranked? And if so…how much more powerful were they?

* * *

Well then…you now know who the enemy is… 

Alright, since this is a FY story, there must be pairings; who should Gabrielle and Jynx end up with, if with anyone at all? Just give me an idea; I might not use it, or I might.

And slots for original characters are still available, as you can see considering there are only four Black members currently. Room for 4 more.

Oh, and if you have time, visit FallenStar89's story, the Gifted.


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